Rejoice Even If You Feel Rotten

No Scripture says, “Rejoice in the Lord when you feel like it.”

No Scripture says, “Rejoice in the Lord as long as everything is going well.”

However, there is this Scripture:

Philippians 4:4:
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

It’s not an option, it’s a command!  That proves that you can do it.  God would be unjust to command you to rejoice at all times if some circumstances could make it impossible for you to rejoice.

Therefore, you need to rejoice in the Lord even if you feel rotten.  You have to force yourself to do it, even when your flesh doesn’t feel like it.

Joy is a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22).  You always have it.  Joy is not a feeling.  If you wait until you feel happy, you might not rejoice in the Lord for a long time!  But you don’t have to wait until you have joy, because you have it on the inside right now.  This joy does not release itself automatically, though.  You release it by choosing to rejoice in the Lord.  That causes the joy that is already in you to bubble up to the surface.

You don’t rejoice because you feel rotten.  You choose to rejoice despite feeling rotten.

You have every reason to rejoice because you are already legally healed by Jesus’ stripes and your God who cannot lie and cannot fail backs His Word.  Like Paul and Silas in the inner prison, you can start rejoicing in the Lord when circumstances look bleak, knowing that God is the One who sets you free.

Rejoicing in the Lord has many benefits.  A merry heart is like medicine (Proverbs 17:22).  Rejoicing gets your mind off your problems and onto your Solver of your problems.  Rejoicing gets your spirit man active and forces your flesh to take a back seat.

Joshua’s army didn’t shout because Jericho’s walls had fallen; Jericho’s walls fell because they shouted while the walls were still standing.  You need to rejoice in the Lord before you feel any difference.

If you feel rotten, you can indulge in self-pity and try to get others to feel as sorry for you as you do, or you can obey the Word and start rejoicing in the Lord!